The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-06-16
A LEAK IN A "D0BY.n

A LEAK IN A "D0BY.'
WHAT TO DO WHEN RAIN COMES
THROUGH THE CEILING.
How the Roof of the Dwelling is Mend
ed in New nIeHco-A Bent Pin, Some
Twine and Bit of Broom Handle Do
the Business.
When the roof of your "doby" leaks in
in this territory the native can always
remedy the trouble with bent pin, ten
feet of twine and bit of broom handle.
If the ceiling Of any room becomes dis.
colored with smoke or otherwise loses the
white purity which must always distin-
guish the interior of "a room for rent"
the same native has q remedy which is as
effective as it is novel. He takes down
the ceiling, puts it in the washtub, and
after thoroughly cleansing it restores it to
its proper position. As leaks in roofs
necessarily have close connection with
room ceilings, simultaneously gained my
knowledge of both occult remedies during
O rain storm the other night.
When came here I found that nine
tenths of the population lived in rented
rooms and that I must do likewise, un-
less wanted to pay $3.50 per week for
board. So hired q spptlessly white room
in q DOLBY and went to bed in one corner
e 3r1r fo,. t,1n{ rf 1,of
/ would be inconvenienced by the heavy,
rain storm prevailing. Il cA:-.f;cs s5s
mind 9oo',+ zu.unignG, when stream Of
water worked its way through the mud
roof and dropped squarely down on my
head as I lay sleeping in bed. got up at
once and prosecuted search for o match,
while another stream played on my back.
I lighted my lamp, and then saw that
about dozen streams were coming
through the ceiling. AS my room opened
on the road, after the manner Of all Mexi-
can dobies, was compelled to dress my
self, fish an umbrella out of my trunk
and go out into the storm to get into the
next room, where my aged and Celtic
landlady reposed.
stAn' has that roof bruk loose agin?
Well, now, jest wait brace o. minnits
till get some clothes on, an I'll COON to
ye," she said, as she opened her door in
response to my eXasperated knocks. In
four minutes she emerged into the storm,
carrying two lamps, and rushed into my
room. First she lighted all the lamps
and put them around the room so she
could see.weu to do the work ahead. A
glance at the scene of action, q vigorous
oath and plunge at the bed followed in
quick succession. She put the foot tub to
catch the stream Of water that was wet
ting the bed clothing glared at me re-
proachfully and then went to work.
From the bottom Of the washstand she
brought forth a string and about three
feet of an old broom handle. The articles,
it seems, are always kept ready for use in
every dolby house in New Mexico. Drag
my landlady put chair on it and lid
with business like sharpness:
"Now, young man, s'pose you Jest turn
your back around entoirely."
I faced about and the lady scrambled to
the table and thence to the chair, comfort
ably assured that had not caught
glimpse Of her venerable ankles. When
looked slyly over my shoulder she was
bending pin at right angles between her
teeth. Then she tied the string to the pin
and reached up to the ceiling and stuck the
pin in. I was startled to see the ceiling
bulge downward, and then for the first
time perceived that, instead Of being white
plaster as had supposed, it was Of white
muslin. Having attached tie pin so that
it would not slip, the landlady leaped
down with the other end of the string in
her hand. TO this end she fastened the
piece of broom handle, and left it swaying
gently before my eyes.
Needless of my questions, she seized
broom and went around the room gazing
critically at the ceiling. Here and there
were little blister like protuberances,
where the water had accumulated in little
pockets. Each Of these the woman pushed
upward until the water ran toward the
lower level around the point where the pin
penetrated the muslin ceiling. The weight
of the wooden stick on the end of the
string, of course, pulled the muslin down.
ward, making hollow over the center Of
the room large enough to accommodate all
the little pockets. When the water had
thus been accumulated in the central
reservoir saw small stream flowing
from the end of the swaying broom stick.
"A1l the water will run down to the pin
now, Ins dear, and thin down the string
to the broom handle and thin down the
broom handle to this bucket, and thin
you'll hav no more trouble ef you'll jist
keep away entoirely from against the
bucket" announced the woman, oracu-
larly.
It was even 80. When she had put dry
clothing on my bed and left me turned
in again and went to sleep in comfort
under roof that was full of holes. In
the morning the bucket placed just under
tho pendant broom was full Of water,
but the room was thoroughly dry.
By daybreak it cleared up and the
woman's 'tman" was shoveling an extra
cart load of earth on the roof of my room.
sNow, Peter" heard her call to him,
"jist take and sow half bushel o. grass
seed there, SO that we will have a fresh
sod before the next rain comes"
Peter sowed the grass seed while Peters
wife took down the muslin which had
been pasted around the edges Of the cell
ing. She took it away and washed it,
and bringing 1t back soaking wet, pasted
and tackled it into position. When /
asked why it was not dried before being
put up, she said that 1t was desirable to
have it wet, so tbs when it dried the
shrinkage would make it taut. An
enormous fire dried my ceiling until it
was as white and smooth as the plaster of
an eastern domicile.
The landlady put away the pin and
string and bit of broom handle in the
bottom of my washstand and said respect
fully:
'Now, then, young man, If things
spring leak agin you tend to 'em your
self an don't come arter me. alters
show strangers how to stop q leak once,
but charges extra If they comes arter
me twict."
In two weeks there was an elegant
green sward on my roof. The roots of the
rank grass form such q compact network
that it takes very heavy storm to wash
away enough earth to admit water into
the room underneath. For this reason
have escaped second ducking and have
had no occasion to try my prentice hand
with the pin and string.-Santa Fe Cor.
New York Sun.
The "Queen's Cadgers."
The jubilee beggar ladies in London
have been nicknamed "queen's cadgers."
They go round bullying people into sub
scribing for the jubilee, and are not above
squeezing servant girls for a shilling.